Playing in front of a home-town crowd in Matildas colours is something that will never lose its lustre for Newcastle's Emily van Egmond.
The Matildas are set to play the world No.1 ranked United States at McDonald Jones Stadium on November 30, giving van Egmond a fourth opportunity to represent her country on Newcastle soil.
The 28-year-old played there when Australia hosted Brazil in 2017, Chile in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019.
"I can't wait," van Egmond told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday.
"I think it's going to be a really good game. To have USA come out here is awesome. The girls are all really excited for it and having one of the games in Newcastle is obviously special.
"To be able to play in front of friends and family at home is something you can never take for granted."
The Newcastle match is the second of a two-game series against the back-to-back world champions - the first is at Stadium Australia on November 27 - and comes after the Matildas' twice played Brazil in Sydney last month.
"We hadn't played at home for over 18 months due to COVID," van Egmond said.
"The FFA and NSW Government worked extremely hard to get those games to go ahead, which was great.
"Now, in this November window, we're able to come home again and play in front of hopefully more fans. We're hoping that we can get a record crowd against the US in Sydney, which would be awesome."
The US matches will serve as vital preparation as the Matildas eye the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India in January and, ultimately, the 2023 Women's World Cup, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
"To have games here against two quality opposition, Brazil and now the US, is good for the Australian public to get a taste of what it's going to be like in 2023," van Egmond said.
"It's a good stepping stone as well for our preparation for the Asian Cup. It's the last FIFA window of this year, so we'll be looking to obviously utilise that in the best way possible and continue off the back of the success of the Brazil games."
Related content:
- US big guns left out of new-look side for Matildas series
- Matildas' Newcastle match set to inspire next generation of footballers
- Newcastle's plan to win over US team ahead of World Cup
Van Egmond, who has over 100 caps for Australia, has been in Newcastle since her commitments with Orlando Pride in the National Women's Soccer League in the US ended recently after they failed to make finals.
She told the Herald her focus was solely on the US series and she was keeping her options open beyond that in terms of club football.
"I'm just going to take these games against the US, prepare for them as best I can, and then we'll see what happens," she said.
"I'm planning to definitely be back in America. We're all just waiting to see what the pre-season date is going to be for that. We've got Asian Cup as well next year, so I'll be just in the best situation as possible to be fit and up for selection obviously for those tournaments coming up.
"These games against the US keeps me ticking over until the end of November at least and then we'll see what happens."
Van Egmond has been training with father and football coach Gary van Egmond as well as joining in with the Newcastle Jets A-League Women's side, who are into their third week of pre-season training.
"I've obviously got my dad here, so I'm lucky with that," she said. "I've also jumped in a couple of sessions with the Jets just to keep ticking over before this window.
"It's been good to see some of the girls I haven't seen for a few years now who are still there, so it's been good in that regard. But also good for my preparation going into these games, which is the most important bit.
"[Jets coach] Ash [Wilson] has been super kind to let me come in and get some sessions under my belt, so it's been good."
Van Egmond was a fresh-faced 15-year-old when she played for the Jets in the first season of W-League, now known as A-League Women.
The competition has changed little in that time but this season Wellington will enter a team. Central Coast and Western Sydney will join the league in 2022-23.
"[More teams and games] is giving the girls here opportunity to play at a higher level, which is great," van Egmond said.
"It's important to continue developing the youth here and to have a solid pathway for female footballers to aspire to become Matildas and making sure that we're doing the right things from a grassroots level all of the way up.
"It's good to see how far the women's game has grown in Australia."
